Urlacher injures foot

Bears star doesn't know prognosis

MRI slated Monday

Dolphins 31, Bears 13

November 06, 2006|By David Haugh and John Mullin, Tribune staff reporters.

His locker was empty, leaving the Bears' locker room full of questions.

How severely was Brian Urlacher hurt? Where did he disappear to after the game? Why did he leave so quickly?

The foot injury Urlacher suffered after tackling Ronnie Brown on the Dolphins' last play from scrimmage--is it serious?

Urlacher's left foot got tangled up in the pile after he tackled Brown at the Bears' 2-yard line with 1 minute 13 seconds left.

"I got rolled up on and at this point I really don't know what the prognosis is," said Urlacher, who declined to discuss any specifics of the injury when reached late Sunday night. "I'm sure I'll be all right, but we'll see."

What the Bears' most valuable player was doing on the field in the final minutes of an 18-point loss is a question for another day, and it will come up if Urlacher is out for an extended period.

Urlacher is scheduled to have an MRI Monday morning. He had been told that nothing appeared to be broken, but one concern was over a possible ligament injury, which sent safety Mike Brown to injured reserve.

The last time Urlacher missed a game because of injury was 2004, when The Bears went 0-7 without him. Coach Lovie Smith added nothing at his postgame press conference to remove any lingering doubt.

"We'll see exactly what it is," Smith said.

Is it serious?

"I hope not," Smith said.

The Bears do not enjoy great depth at linebacker. Special-teams ace Brendon Ayanbadejo filled in nicely for Hunter Hillenmeyer at strong-side linebacker earlier this season after Hillenmeyer sat out the Detroit game with a concussion. If Urlacher is out, Ayanbadejo likely would get the first look as a starter with Hillenmeyer in the middle.

The 31-13 defeat added to Urlacher's discomfort.

"I'd love to go 16-0 but you know that's not going to happen," Urlacher said. "And Miami is a much better team than a lot of people realize."